Record Cabinet - wedding gift

This is a record cabinet I made for my best friend and his wife Allison. She had come to me 2 years ago with the desire to have me make a cabinet like this, which she had been dreaming about for some time. Some how the project fell through and I didn’t make it. So I decided to surprise them with it for their wedding.

It turned out that the best time to present it was at their rehearsal dinner. So I placed it in the restaurant with a table cloth covering it. When the time was right I pulled the cloth off to reveal their gift. Allison let out a deep gurgling sound of appreciation, if you can imagine it, and dropped to her knees. Apparently I hit the mark and it felt amazing.

Wood: riftsawn walnut. 1/2” was the thickest riftsawn walnut I could find and by the time it was dimensioned it was 3/8”. Not ideal but riftsawn walnut is the only wood she wanted. She’s an architectural/interior designer. So it needed to be right.

Joinery: dovetail for the top,bottom and sides. rabbit for the back panel

Wow, there is nothing better than building something that is REALLY appreciated. Very nice cabinet too. What a great wedding gift, that’ll be at the top of the “grab in a fire” list for the rest of her life

love the midcentury modern look – and that wood looks almost like mahogany, but that could be the lighting in the pics. anyway, very nice job – the simplicity of the design highlights the nice wood and craftsmanship. also, i understand what you mean about the thin lumber, but i think the end result looks nice, and it’s solid wood so it’s probably quite strong. with 3/4” stock we probably tend to overbuild stuff :-)

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I really appreciate it.
dub560 – The dovetails were cut on my Routerboss. It can hold up to 42” panel to allow me to cut the dovetails. I have posted a review of this machine.
DaytonB – You’re so right. Their reaction and appreciation for the cabinet was an amazing gift in itself. Worth all the hours.
AaronK – Thank for the great compliments. Different lighting can really change the way this piece looks. I was worried the 3/8” would look too thin but that ended up not being the case. I was pleasantly surprised. And the dividers inside help stiffen it all up anyway.